When Grammy nominations for the 59th Grammy Awards were revealed Tuesday morning, country singer Brandy Clark knew what they meant for her and other women in her position.

“It says, to me, country females are kicking ass,” said Clark, whose “Big Day in a Small Town” is nominated for best country album.

Female country singers were included or were the sole recipients of 15 out of 20 nominations in four country categories. New country hit-makers Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris were also recognized in the all-genre best new artist category — a feat that Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said brought a smile to his face.

For female country artists, the recognition from the Recording Academy signals progress toward and end to the male dominance that has persisted in the genre for years. But there's still a long way to go.

Just three of the Top 30 most played acts on country radio this year are solo females — Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini and Miranda Lambert, according to Mediabase. Maren Morris sits at 31. For comparison, in 2015 Billboard ranked “Fly” by Maddie & Tae as the only song by a female artist(s) among its Top 30 most heard songs of the year. In 2014, women had three songs in country radio’s most heard 60 songs of the year and in 2013, there were six.

Kelsea Ballerini is nominated for Best New Artist at the 59th annual Grammy Awards.(Photo: Larry McCormack / tennessean.com)

“I would love to say in 2016 the needle at country radio moved, but it only moved by a hair,” said Senior Vice President of Music Strategy for CMT Leslie Fram. “I feel like the industry voted and moved the needle with Grammy nominations. But I’m hopeful that will open the door for more slots for female artists and female songs on country radio. Obviously, it’s always let the best song win.”

Grammy nominations and inclusion on terrestrial country radio’s ever shrinking playlists can be mutually exclusive. Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville Randy Goodman explained Grammy voters might not be from Nashville, thus lacking complete knowledge of the genre's mainstream and sometimes make critical selections based on personal perceptions of country music. Country radio programmers, meanwhile, are catering to the genre’s rabid fans. When an artist manages to capture both audiences —a tightrope Lambert and Underwood walk regularly — it’s rare.

The honor isn’t lost on Ballerini, who has both the all-genre nomination and three No. 1 country hits to her credit.

“It’s been really fun to watch this album have radio success,” Ballerini said of her gold-selling debut album “First Time.” “It’s been really fun to watch this album turn into a headlining tour. It’s been really fun to see this album do all of these things, but this is The Grammys. It’s people saying, ‘We know you write your songs, we believe in this as a cred audience.’ That for me as a songwriter and a new artist is the most reaffirming and reassuring thing I’ve ever had happen.”

Maren Morris opens for Keith Urban on Nov. 11, 2016, at Bridgestone Arena. She is now in the midst of her first headlining tour.(Photo: Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean)

Ballerini, Morris and Clark are part of an emerging group of young, gutsy, articulate female singer/songwriters that Cris Lacy, vice president of A&R at Warner Music Nashville, thinks will alter the course of country music. Lacy believes the women bring dimension to a genre that has had a glut of similar themes from its established stars and safe songs of half-truths from previous women trying to break through.

“I’m just seeing all these young women really owning who they are and their ability to put it into words with all its grit and glory … telling their story in a way that I haven’t seen women do for years,” she said.

Lacy said she believes country radio is coming out of a male-dominated era that was propelled by male artists who presented themselves in their music in ways to which fans could relate. Female artists, she said, are about to make the same strides.

“I think what was happening is women weren’t writing the whole truth,” she said. “Now these young women are writing their whole truth and some of it isn’t pretty, but it’s so real. And people are embracing it. I expect them to have as much or more success than the guys did.”

He pointed to Grammy-nominated country collaborations including Dierks Bentley with Elle King on “Different for Girls” and Chris Young and Cassadee Pope’s “Think of You” as additional ways more female voices were heard on country radio in 2016.

Chris Young and Cassadee Pope sing "Think of You" during rehearsals for the 51st ACM Awards Friday, April 1, 2016, in Las Vegas.(Photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean)

Young credits Pope for their chart topper’s success.

“You can’t talk about the success ‘Think of You’ has had without mentioning Cassadee,” he said. “She was the very first person I asked to be a part of the song. She was the person I wanted to sing the song with.”

And the collaborations are just the beginning. In 2017, Cook believes Lauren Alaina and her hit “Road Less Traveled” along with female trio Runaway June, Raelynn, and Mickey Guyton are “legitimate contenders.” He says Brooke Eden is “great,” predicts Cam will be back on the radio and thinks Lambert’s double album “The Weight of These Wings” “might be the most ambitious and imaginative collection of music to come out of Nashville this year.”

When women successfully break through at country radio, Goodman said, they often turn into the music industry’s top moneymakers. And like Lacy and Cook, he believes the genre is set for a female “explosion.”

“There’s no doubt there are more women getting played than there have been in a while,” he said. “You have a disruption where they are called tomatoes,” he recalled, referencing a controversial statement by a radio consultant in 2015, “and there is a call to action. But it’s timing. All of a sudden, you throw a Kelsea in there who has great success. You have a Carrie and a Miranda who continue to do what they do. A Cam explosion. And Maren, the music is right and the table is set.”

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
(Award goes to Artist and Director(s))
"Burning House"
Cam
Directed by Trey Fanjoy(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

Country newcomer Aubrie Sellers hopes Morris' and Ballerini's critical and commercial success "means doors open for people like me to follow." Sellers, who calls her sound “garage country,” released her debut album "New City Blues" in September. “Hopefully their success proves that people want to hear new, interesting things from females,” she said.

Fram thought Clark gave radio two format-friendly singles with “Girl Next Door” and the Grammy-nominated “Love Can Go to Hell” this year and laments they still weren’t supported. She's also disappointed that Morris' acclaimed "My Church" didn't go to No. 1. In 2017, Cook said, he believed “most of us are rooting for Brandy Clark.”

For Clark, the Grammy recognition is validation of her craft and hope for the future.

“To me, it says that’s what I need to keep doing, evolving as an artist in one form or another,” she said. “Those songs that as far as commerciality goes, they might never see the light of day, but they matter. It tells me that somebody is paying attention. It tells me the industry is paying attention.”